In the early morning hours of Valentine's Day 2024, Samuel Terrence Yeager Jr., a 47-year-old Black male, was fatally shot in north Minneapolis. The incident occurred around 1:07 a.m. near the intersection of West Broadway and Emerson Avenues North. Responding officers discovered Yeager with multiple gunshot wounds and, despite their life-saving efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office later ruled his death a homicide.
According to the initial investigation, an individual approached Yeager on foot, fired several shots, and then fled the scene heading westward in a light-colored SUV. For a time, the case remained an active investigation with no immediate arrests made. The community mourned the loss of Yeager, with a memorial service held on February 26, 2024, at Estes Funeral Chapel in Minneapolis.
Eventually, an arrest was made in connection with the fatal shooting. Dominick Ramone Thomas Kirkland, 27, was charged with the murder of Samuel Yeager. Kirkland later pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder. In April 2025, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the crime. The sentence was described as an "upward departure" from the standard guidelines, taking into account the particular cruelty of the act, the failure to render aid, and the danger posed to the community as the shooting occurred in an area with many other people present.
